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1This is what Yahweh says:
“The heavens are my throne
and the earth is my footstool.
Where is the house you will build for me?
Where is the place where I will rest?
2My hand made these things so they all belong to me,” declares Yahweh .
“But there is one my eyes are drawn to:
the humble one, the tender one, the trembling one
who lives in awe of all I say.
3But the one who offers a bull with no humility
is like one who kills a man.
The one who offers a lamb without contrition
is like one who breaks a dog’s neck.
The one who brings grain offerings with no heart-purity
is like one who offers pig’s blood!
The one who offers incense with no sincerity
is like one who kisses an idol!
They have all chosen their own way, not mine ,
and they take delight in these disgusting things!
4So I chose to punish them[#66:4 Or “mock.”]
and to bring on them what they fear the most
because I called out to them and they ignored me.
I spoke and they did not listen
but did what is evil in my sight
and chose what I despise.”
5Hear the words of Yahweh , you who tremble at what he says:
“Shame on your own people,
who reject you and hate you,
claiming they do it for my sake.
For they mock you , saying,
‘May Yahweh be glorified; let us see you rejoice.’ ”
6Listen! A sound of uproar is coming from the city
a sound from the temple!
It is the thunder of Yahweh
as he completely punishes his enemies!
7Zion gave birth suddenly, even before going into labor.
She delivered a son without any painful contractions.
8Who has ever seen or heard of such a wonder?
Could a country be born in a day?
Can a nation be birthed so suddenly?
Yet no sooner does Zion go into labor
than she gives birth to sons!
9Yahweh , your God, says,
“Do I allow you to conceive and not to give birth?
Do I shut the womb when I’m the one who delivers?”
10So rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad for her!
All who love her, join in with her great joy,
especially those who remember her grief!
11You, her children , will drink the milk of her prosperity
and nurse with delight from her glorious abundance!
12For Yahweh says:
“I will extend to her prosperity like a river
and the wealth of gentiles like a flooding river.
You will nurse from her breast, be cradled in her arms,
and delightfully bounced on her knees.
13As a mother tenderly comforts her child,
so will I tenderly comfort you,
and you will find comfort in Jerusalem.”
14When you feast your eyes on this,
your heart will leap for joy and be revived;
your body will flourish and sprout like grass.
The mighty power of Yahweh will be revealed,
resting on his servants,
but his fury will be shown to his enemies!
15Look! Yahweh is coming as a raging fire
and his chariots like a whirlwind
to unleash his anger with fiery fury
and with the fiery lightning of his rebuke!
16For with fire and with his sword[#66:16 See Jer. 23:29–32.; #66:16 See Heb. 4:12.]
Yahweh will judge humanity—
many will be the slain of Yahweh !
17“The end is near for those who ‘consecrate’ and ‘purify’ themselves to enter their cultic groves! They go in procession one after another into their ceremonies . They eat disgusting foods —pork, mice, and rodents.
18I despise their evil works and their thoughts,” says Yahweh .[#66:18 See Gal. 5:19–21.; #66:18 Or “imaginations.” The works and thoughts of fallen humanity can be compared to the “mark (character) of the beast” on the hands (works) and the foreheads (thoughts, mindsets) of people. See Acts 17:29; Rev. 13:13–18.]
“The time is coming for me to gather people together from all over the world, and they will come and gaze on my radiance.
19I will set an amazing sign among them. I will send some of the remnant to other nations—to Tarshish, Put, Lud (known for its archers), Tubal, Javan, and distant islands that have never heard of my fame nor gazed on my glory. They will declare my glory among the gentiles![#66:19 To “set a sign” is likely a figure of speech for “to display a mighty miracle.” This Hebrew phrase is also found in Ps. 78:43 and Jer. 32:20. In the book of Acts, the miracle-sign God set among his people was the Holy Spirit, who sent out laborers into the harvest fields of the nations.; #66:19 Or “Pul.” Put is modern-day Libya.; #66:19 Lud is Lydia in modern-day western Turkey.; #66:19 Or possibly Meshech, a region frequently associated with Tubal, which could be a reference to Russia (Moscow).; #66:19 Ancient Tubal is comprised of much of modern-day Turkey.; #66:19 Javan was the son of Japheth and the grandson of Noah. This is a likely metonymy referring to modern-day Greece.]
20And they will bring back from the nations your own people as an offering to me,” says Yahweh .
“They will come on horseback, in chariots, in wagons, on mules and camels to my holy mountain, Jerusalem,” says Yahweh . “In the same way my people bring a grain offering in a sacred vessel to the temple, they will be brought as grain offerings to my holy mountain, Jerusalem, as a holy offering to me.
21And some of them I will appoint as Levitical priests,” says Yahweh .
22This is what Yahweh declares: “The new heavens and the new earth that I am making will remain and endure before me in the same way your offspring and your name will endure.[#66:22 Or “seed.”]
23From one Sabbath to the next, one month to the next, one year to the next, all humanity will come to worship me!
24“They will go out of the city and see the dead bodies of those who rebelled against me. For their worm will not die and their fire will never go out. And they will be abhorrent to humanity.”[#66:24 This is likely a figure of speech for unending suffering. Some equate the “worm” with the guilty conscience. See Mark 9:48.; #66:24 It is possible that this refers to a mass burial site where maggots continue to eat flesh and fire burns continually with corpses. Some see this as having been fulfilled by the slaughter of Israel’s enemies during the time of the Maccabees, others as a view toward a future slaughter, and still others as a description of hell.; #66:24 Or “all flesh,” the last words of Isaiah. It is a long-held Jewish tradition that Isaiah was placed inside a hollow tree and sawn in two by the order of King Manasseh. The book of Isaiah is likewise “sawn in two” by theologians with theories of two or more authors.]